Thanks for
all the reviews so far! It's always good to see other Tikku fans out
there!

Chapter 2: My
Summer Love

Rikku raced
ahead of the other two girls as they made their way across the island
of Besaid to the beach, where Brother waited with the Celsius. As she
reached the waterfalls, she slowed down to gaze up at the cascading
waters shimmering above her, the sun's rays scattered and turned to
liquid as they shone through. She smiled.

Rikku loved
Besaid, if for no other reason than it reminded her so much of him.
The bright sun, blue sky, warm sand, cool waters... everything here
somehow brought a memory of him to her mind: a smile, a laugh, a
touch.

Her favorite
thing to do here was to explore and find a nice, secret spot that
seemed untouched by time, and just lie down and watch the clouds pass
by. They used to do that together, on the pilgrimage, whenever they
could steal a moment from the worrying and the thinking to just live,
to just breathe in the air and cast all their cares to the wind. It
was the only thing that kept her sane during that time.

"Hellooo,
Spira to Rikku!" She spun around to find her cousin watching her
with a particularly curious smile.

Rikku laughed,
slightly embarassed. "Hehehe... Yeah, I was." The admission
sent all three girls into a fit of laughter, even the normally
composed Paine.

Once they had
all calmed down, they set down the island path together. Yuna turned
to her cousin and smiled. "So, Rikku... tell us about this new
ship you helped Gippal design!"

Paine raised an
eyebrow. "You helped design the Highwind?"

Rikku giggled.
"Yup-yup! But no telling secrets until the the big unvealing
tomorrow!"

Yuna sported a
mock-frown. "Aww, no fair, Rikku! Can't you tell us just a
little?"

"Nope! I
promised Gippal I'd keep it a secret, and a secret's what it's gonna
stay!" She laughed as Yuna tried her best to pout. "But why
don't we ask Paine to tell us all about what she and the guys
will be doing now that they finally get to man their own ship?"

"Oh! Yes,
Paine, tell us about your plans!"

Paine shot a
glare at Rikku, but humored her friends anyway. "Well, we're
going to be taking on an exploratory mission."

Yuna's eyes
widened. "Ooh! You mean, like discovering brave new worlds and
that sort of thing?"

Paine smiled at
Yuna's enthusiasm. "Yeah, that sort of thing. Really, it's just
glorified cartography, but it'll be fun to be back with the guys
again."

"And
they're gonna be looking for secret islands and hidden caves and
buried treasure!" Rikku gestured wildly for emphasis. "Just
like pirates! Arr!" She threw a hand over one eye and scowled.
Yuna giggled.

"Stop that,
you look like Gippal," Paine scolded. At this, Yuna and Rikku
erupted in a fit of giggles. Paine smirked. "Heh."

They rounded the
path, coming up on the hidden cave. Rikku playfully hopped down the
moss-covered steps, watching the sunlight and shadows dance beneath
her. As she reached the bottom, a mischievous look ran across her
face, and she shouted back to the other girls."Race ya!"

Before Yuna and
Paine could react, Rikku was already running onto the beach. "H-Hey!"
"That's not fair!"

Rikku skidded to
a stop in the sand just in front of her brother. She leaned forward
with her hands on her knees, laughing and trying to catch her breath
as Yuna and Paine jogged towards her.

"Hullo,
beach babies!" Brother greeted the two girls warmly, his arms
outstretched in a comical manner.